Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. Sells 507,572 Shares of Pacific Biosciences of California, Inc. (NASDAQ:PACB)

Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lessened its holdings in Pacific Biosciences of California, Inc. (NASDAQ:PACB) by 35.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 926,988 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 507,572 shares during the quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Pacific Biosciences of California were worth $9,094,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in PACB. ARK Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Pacific Biosciences of California by 15.7% during the 4th quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC now owns 34,504,273 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $338,487,000 after purchasing an additional 4,681,833 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings in Pacific Biosciences of California by 37.5% during the 3rd quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 149,131 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,255,000 after purchasing an additional 40,667 shares during the last quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd raised its holdings in Pacific Biosciences of California by 452.8% during the 3rd quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 330,331 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $2,758,000 after purchasing an additional 270,573 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in Pacific Biosciences of California by 2,201.0% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 3,041,624 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $29,838,000 after purchasing an additional 2,909,439 shares during the last quarter. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc raised its holdings in Pacific Biosciences of California by 68.0% during the 3rd quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 704,700 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $5,884,000 after purchasing an additional 285,343 shares during the last quarter.

Insider Transactions at Pacific Biosciences of California

In other news, Director David W. Meline purchased 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $4.40 per share, with a total value of $176,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 40,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $176,000. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, insider Oene Mark Van sold 33,560 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.96, for a total transaction of $200,017.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 876,611 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,224,601.56. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director David W. Meline purchased 40,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $4.40 per share, with a total value of $176,000.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 40,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $176,000. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 37,359 shares of company stock valued at $218,843. 1.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have issued reports on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on shares of Pacific Biosciences of California from $9.00 to $7.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. StockNews.com raised shares of Pacific Biosciences of California to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 20th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Pacific Biosciences of California from $12.50 to $12.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Pacific Biosciences of California from $8.00 to $3.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $9.78.

Pacific Biosciences of California Trading Down 6.2 %

Shares of Pacific Biosciences of California stock opened at $3.17 on Friday. Pacific Biosciences of California, Inc. has a 52-week low of $3.13 and a 52-week high of $14.55. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $4.63 and its 200 day simple moving average is $6.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $849.40 million, a P/E ratio of -2.62 and a beta of 1.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 7.21 and a current ratio of 7.81.

Pacific Biosciences of California (NASDAQ:PACB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 15th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.27) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.29) by $0.02. The business had revenue of $58.36 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $57.96 million. Pacific Biosciences of California had a negative return on equity of 40.23% and a negative net margin of 152.97%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 113.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted ($0.35) EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Pacific Biosciences of California, Inc. will post -1.01 EPS for the current year.

Pacific Biosciences of California Profile

Pacific Biosciences of California, Inc designs, develops, and manufactures sequencing solution to resolve genetically complex problems. The company provides sequencing systems; consumable products, including single molecule real-time (SMRT) technology; long-red sequencing; and various reagent kits designed for specific workflow, such as preparation kit to convert DNA into SMRTbell double-stranded DNA library formats, including molecular biology reagents, such as ligase, buffers, and exonucleases.